Latest news with #RobertSirico
USA Today
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
What do 'The Sopranos' and the pope conclave have in common? This bloodline, it turns out
What do 'The Sopranos' and the pope conclave have in common? This bloodline, it turns out Show Caption Hide Caption World reacts to first US pontiff, Pope Leo XIV The papal conclave selected an American pontiff for the first time in history, Pope Leo XIV, and the world is reacting. You couldn't have written it any better − the first American pope and a "Sopranos" connection. As the 133 cardinals who voted during the papal conclave became more known to the public in recent days, enjoying a brief bout of internet fame, some close watchers began to notice that one looked shockingly similar to a television mafioso. Father Robert Alan Sirico, who was in Rome for the religious vote which ultimately anointed Pope Leo XIV as the next pontiff, is, in fact, the younger brother of Tony Sirico, who played Paul "Paulie Walnuts" Gualtieri on "The Sopranos." Now that the smoke has risen, here's how to stream the movie 'Conclave' Tony Sirico, who died in 2022, played Gualtieri, Tony Soprano's eccentric and paranoid henchman, for all six seasons of the hit HBO mob show. His brother, Robert Sirico, is both a cardinal and a co-founder of the Acton Institute, a conservative religious think tank based out of Michigan. The pair grew up on the edge of the Brooklyn borough, in the Bensonhurst and East Flatbush neighborhoods of New York City. From a family of Italian descent, the brothers took wildly different paths, with Robert Sirico going the route of the faithful and Tony heading first for some run-ins with the law, then to Hollywood. "Where I grew up, every guy was trying to prove himself. You either had to have a tattoo or a bullet hole," he told the Los Angeles Times in a 1990 profile. "I had both." He was arrested over 25 times before and spent two stints in prison before landing his defining role on "The Sopranos." 'Sopranos' actor Tony Sirico, known for role as Paulie Walnuts, dead at 79 Robert Sirico became a priest in 1989 and spoke fondly of his brother at his funeral in July 2022, according to local publication The Brooklyn Reporter. "As many of the professional actors who are here know, people often confuse the actor with the act," he said of his brother. "When you look beneath that rough defensive armor, as Michael Imperioli called it last night at the wake, you begin to see a softer, gentler interior." How accurate is the movie 'Conclave' about the election of a new pope? Telling a story about a time when his brother skipped Mass after failing to attend communion, Robert Sirico recalled: "I said to him, 'Junior, you are the last bad Catholic in America.'" "All the rest think they're entitled to come to communion without that preparation," he continued. "That revealed to me a seriousness which he had about repairing himself and an awareness of his own completeness and a necessity for confession before encountering a Holy God. I think that was his redemption."
New York Post
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Brother of actor who played Paulie Walnuts on ‘Sopranos' is one of the priests who elected new pope
Father's brother was in 'the family!' One of the priests in Rome for the conclave is the brother of the actor who played famed 'Sopranos' mobster Paul 'Paulie Walnuts' Gualtieri, according to a report. Among the Roman Catholic cardinals casting secret ballots this week is Father Robert Sirico — who fans of the show noticed is a dead ringer for the fictional mafia underboss. The man of God is the elder brother of the late Tony Sirico, who played Tony Soprano's brutal and wise-cracking chief henchmen on the trailblazing New Jersey-based crime drama, the UK Mirror reported. 3 Father Robert Sirico is the elder brother of the actor who played Paul 'Paulie Walnuts' Gualtieri on 'The Sopranos.' The odd-couple siblings grew up in an Italian-American Catholic family in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn and remained close despite their dramatically different career paths, the outlet reported. Fans spotted that the cardinal had a famous look-alike after he appeared in an interview on Wednesday discussing how long the conclave voting process may take. Father Sirico — who is also the co-founder of the conservative think tank The Emeritus of the Acton Institute — gave a heartfelt tribute when his brother died in July 2022 at age 79, saying he 'absolved him of his sins' on his deathbed. 3 Father Robert Sirico is among the 133 cardinals who will vote in Rome on a new Pope. Acton Institute 'I sensed that the end was coming. So as we sat in a private location, I pulled out a Confessional Stole from my pocket. I looked into his eyes and I said, 'How about that confession?' Father Sirico said in a death announcement. 3 Mobster Paul 'Paulie Walnuts' Gualtieri was played by Tony Sirico on 'The Sopranos.' Getty Images 'My brother agreed and I did one of the most significant things a priest can do for another human being. I absolved him of all of his sins,' he said. Before his big break, the actor had a checkered past with 28 arrests charges reportedly including robbery, assault and gun possession. He also made an appearance in the films 'Godfather: Part II' and 'Goodfellas.' During the conclave meetings, 133 eligible cardinals are sequestered inside the Vatican to pray and vote for the next pope. A two-thirds majority is required to elect a new pope.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Does this priest look familiar to you? Meet the Father with a famous brother who has a VERY different lifestyle as he appears on Sky News
Viewers of Sky News may have had a strange sense of déjà vu this week when a composed Catholic priest appeared on screen discussing matters of the Vatican. For many, there was something oddly familiar about Rev. Robert Sirico - and now eagle-eyed Sopranos fans think they've cracked it. Yes, that's Father Robert Sirico, the younger brother of the late Tony Sirico, the actor best known for playing the brilliantly brash and immaculately coiffed Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in the legendary HBO crime series The Sopranos. But while Tony's life was one steeped in drama both on and off the screen, Robert took a very different, and perhaps more surprising, path. Born in Brooklyn, New York, the Sirico brothers grew up in a traditional Italian-American Catholic household in the East Flatbush and Bensonhurst neighborhoods. But the similarities end there. Tony Sirico, who passed away in 2022, lived a life that could have been lifted from the pages of a mob script long before he ever stepped in front of a camera. He dropped out of high school, was shot in the leg over a girl as a teenager, and ended up serving in the U.S. Army. But that wasn't the end of his run-ins with the law - far from it. Father Robert Sirico (above), the younger brother of the late Tony Sirico, the actor best known for playing the brilliantly brash and immaculately coiffed Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri in the legendary HBO crime series The Sopranos Rev. Robert Sirico (middle) on Sky News to discuss the election of a new Pope Sirico was arrested 28 times on charges ranging from robbery to assault to gun possession. In 1971, he was convicted on multiple charges including felony weapons possession and spent 20 months in the notorious Sing Sing prison. It was there that Tony found his calling, of sorts. A visit from an acting troupe made up of ex-cons sparked something in him, and when he left prison, he began hustling for roles in Hollywood. His early work included blink and you'll miss it appearances in The Godfather: Part II, and bit parts in films like So Fine and The Pick-Up Artist. But his big break came with Goodfellas in 1990, and later, he was cast in the role that would define him: the hilariously paranoid and fiercely loyal Paulie Walnuts in The Sopranos. A favorite of directors like Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, Sirico built a 40-year career playing mobsters, tough guys, and streetwise New Yorkers. Off-screen, he had two children and even launched his own cologne, Paolo Per Uomo, in 2008. He passed away in 2022, aged 79, after battling dementia. In stark contrast, Robert Sirico, followed a spiritual and highly intellectual path. Initially stepping away from Catholicism in his youth, Robert explored Pentecostal preaching in Seattle during the 1970s, becoming known for his fiery sermons and progressive views. He made headlines when he publicly came out as gay and even presided over Colorado's first gay marriage ceremony. But Robert later returned to the Catholic Church, influenced by the writings of St. Augustine and St. John Henry Newman. He earned a Master of Divinity from The Catholic University of America in 1987 and was ordained as a Paulist priest two years later. Robert didn't fade quietly into the pulpit. He founded the Acton Institute, a libertarian think tank promoting free-market principles rooted in Christian theology. Despite their wildly divergent paths — one a beloved screen gangster, the other a devout priest and political thinker — the Sirico brothers remained close. Robert announced his brother's death in 2022 saying: 'It is with great sadness, but with incredible pride, love and a whole lot of fond memories, that the family of Gennaro Anthony 'Tony' Sirico wishes to inform you of his death on the morning of July 8, 2022.' He continued: 'I sensed that the end was coming. So as we sat in a private location, I pulled out a Confessional Stole from my pocket. I looked into his eyes and I said, 'How about that confession?' 'My brother agreed and I did one of the most significant things a priest can do for another human being. I absolved him of all of his sins.'
South China Morning Post
04-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Retired Cardinal Joseph Zen is more welcome in Hong Kong than Rome
Never assume, North American teachers of my generation supposedly liked to tell their students, because it makes an ASS-of-U-and-ME. Advertisement Perhaps Father Robert Sirico, now well into his seventies, has forgotten that sound piece of advice. The influential US Catholic author and educator has counselled local firebrand Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who is in Rome after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, to 'defect'. Seriously, are we still in the Soviet era? 'His defection would also signal to Hong Kong's beleaguered Catholics that their struggle isn't forgotten,' Sirico wrote in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). What beleaguered struggle? The city's Catholics, among them at least two former chief executives of the Hong Kong SAR and countless senior civil servants – and yours truly used to be a Catholic too – are no happier or unhappier than their brethren in the United States. Sirico should have first checked with the Hong Kong diocese about the religious state of the city before mouthing off in the WSJ, which of course, runs anything anti-China. Advertisement 'I haven't consulted Cardinal Zen on this, but as a priest and friend of Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement,' he wrote, 'I urge him to stay in Rome. His presence in the Vatican would serve as a powerful rebuke to Beijing's oppression and a beacon of hope for the faithful.' He really should have asked first. Perhaps the learned clergyman from America has read too much WSJ and its kind of journalism, rather than diversifying to try Italian, Hong Kong and mainland Chinese publications, including this newspaper. And no, I don't mean my own biased opinion pieces but the far more objective and excellent reporting by my news colleagues.
